In late February, an Iranian
young man set himself on fire in Fardis, near the capital Tehran when the
police attempted to demolish his unlicensed store. A footage of the incident
went viral on social media causing wide-spread uproar. Over the past few
months, similar incidents of economic turmoil surfaced.
Although the Iranian regime managed to suppress the sweeping
protests that hit some 75 Iranian cities on December 28 and killed more than 25
protesters, new labor strikes tell a new uprising is still in the
horizons.
The Shiite country tried to privatize some industries of its
state-run economy. However, this finally led to a more powerful grip of wealthy
and corrupt elite, according to observers.
Workers at the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in the
southwestern province of Ahvaz have staged a strike to get their salaries. Sources
say around 4,000 workers in the company are suffering deteriorating economic situation.
On March 4, the workers of Arak’s HEPCO Corporation extended
their protest from Arak to Tehran where they protested in front of the Iranian
Privatization Organization.
HEPCO was privatized 10 years ago. Its workers have not received
their salaries in eight months. They chanted slogans against the clerical
regime's corruption and oppression.
“Poor worker should be executed, an economic corrupter should be
freed” and “Peace be upon the oppressor, death to the worker,” they said.
Iranian police have detained some demonstrators.
Meanwhile, Iran's notorious security apparatus controls much of
the country's economy. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) runs controls
15 to 30 percent of the staggering economy.
Also, banks remain hobbled by billions of dollars in bad loans,
some from the era of nuclear sanctions and others tainted with fraud. The
collapse last year of the Caspian Credit Institute, which promised depositors
the kinds of returns rarely seen outside of Ponzi schemes, showed the economic
desperation faced by many in Iran.
This comes as the Iranian currency continues
to slump as further international sanctions loom. The exchange rate of the U.S.
dollar against Iran’s tuman has recently hiked from 3,700 tumans to
the dollar in March 2017 to 4,700 tumans to the dollar in January this year.
Now more than 3.2 million Iranians are jobless with the unemployment rate is exceeding 11 percent.
The fears from a new social explosion drew the attention of the clerically
run government.
Iranian parliament which is
currently considering the state budget said it would amend governmental plans
to improve the economic situation for the poor. It suggested that the salaries
of those getting the minimum wages to be increased by 18 percent.
However, this never led to any improvement on the ground.
President Hassan Rouhani suggested holding a referendum,
without revealing what would be voted on. He called all factions that oppose his rule to avoid what he called "fight", calling for a ballot.
Opposition activist, Mehdi Karroubi, who is under house arrest, urged
Khamenei in an open letter to shoulder responsibility for economic, political
and cultural failures.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged the
depths of the problems ahead of the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic
Revolution.
Khamenei admitted failures and injustice, saying his regime should
"apologize to Allah the people."
The apology of Khamenei, who is seen by hard-liners as the
representative of God on earth, reveals evidence that a new uprising is looming
over Iran.
